Relentless Bonds
by UnspokenLoves
Summary: The worst storm Vegas has seen in years threatens the lives of Catherine and Sara. How will the team react to the news that one is safe and the other is missing? Can they pull together or will they be torn apart and start blaming each other.
1. Chapter 1: The Storm

Disclaimer: I don't own any thing.

A/N: Thanks to Joan and Susan for their wonderful beta jobs. This fic is near complete, I just need betas done. I haven't forgotten my WIPs I'm working on them. This fic is dedicated to Kimberly H. thanks for all the support.

**CHAPTER ONE: THE STORM**

Thunder and lightning crashed through the Vegas sky. Rain had yet to pour down, although it had been threatening to destroy Catherine and Sara's crime scene the entire night. The women jumped as a lighting bolt struck down close to them.

"We're going to be heading back in five." Catherine had her phone basically glued to her ear. "Really?" She looked around outside. "If the rain holds out we will be back at the lab in twenty minutes, so if I don't see you when you get back, I'll see you at home." She smiled to herself. "Bye." She put her phone away.

"You almost finished?" Catherine asked Sara, as she started to load the truck up with the evidence they'd collected.

"Yeah," Sara responded as she snapped a few last photos. Another flash of lighting lingered in the air. "Its getting closer," she observed. The CSI closed the back door of the truck just as a lighting bolt struck a tree within ten feet of where she'd been standing. "Damn it! We should head back before we get killed out here."

"Sara, neither of us is going to get killed tonight." Catherine was surprised the tree didn't burst into flames, but she wasn't about to wait around and see if anything or anyone else would get hit. "Let's get out of here."

Sara slid into the car just as the sky opened up, sending millions of rain drops crashing to the ground. "I'll be glad when tonight is over." She started to rub her eyes, "I'm so exhausted it's not funny."

"I thought I've heard everything. Sara Sidle is exhausted!" Catherine chuckled as she drove down the road. "I thought you never slept," she smiled and turned to see her passenger yawning.

"I don't, maybe that's why I'm so tired." Sara placed her head against the window and fought to keep her eyes open.

"We'll be back at the lab in thirty minutes or so. It's hard to see the road when it's raining this hard." Catherine leaned forward a bit, in hopes of getting a better look at the road ahead. "Why don't you try to get a bit of rest until then?" She took her eyes off of the road for a moment, "You'll feel better."

"That's the worst I've seen it," Greg stated as he and Warrick walked into the lab, soaked from head to toe. He almost slipped on the floor as he walked down the hall.

"I hear you on that one. I've lived in Vegas my entire life, and I can't remember it getting this bad," Warrick shivered slightly.

"Hey, Greg, Warrick. How'd it go?" Grissom said as he came around the corner.

"It didn't, by the time we got close the road was closed due to high water," Greg answered. "Sorry."

"Hmm, well glad you guys made it back safety. Go hit the showers and get into something warm. Also get a hot drink."

"Already on it," Warrick told Grissom as he and Greg headed down the hall. "Oh, hey boss," He turned around suddenly. "Is Catherine back yet?"

"Haven't seen her." Grissom looked at his watch, "She and Sara must have gotten caught in the storm."

"Yeah, maybe." Warrick turned back around and continued on to the shower.

"Catherine, I think you should pull over." Sara could just see the road herself, and was concerned about the conditions. "It's really hard to see, I don't want us or anyone else to get hurt."

"You think I would deliberately put our lives in danger?" Catherine shook her head.

"No, I didn't say that." Sara moved a bit in her seat. Her cell phone was digging into her side and she pulled it out. "But you can't control how other people are driving. I just think we would be safer if you pulled over."

"We'll be all right; I think we're safer staying on the road. Someone might hit the car if we pulled over and we could get seriously hurt." Catherine continued driving. It wasn't that she didn't care about Sara's request to pull over, but she truly felt to stay moving was their safestoption.

"Okay fine." Sara tossed her phone on the dashboard. She didn't want Catherine to pull over only because of the weather, but because she was also starting to feel sick. Not wanting to tell Catherine she didn't feel well, Sara just wrapped her arms around her stomach and rested her head against the window.

Catherine looked over at Sara for a moment and could see she looked a bit pale. She felt bad for not stopping, but she didn't want to take the risk of someone hitting the truck. Sighing she looked back at the road, "Sara, I'll make you a deal. Since I'm going to keep on driving, when we get back to the lab I'll let you use the couch in my office to rest until the weather clears, and you can get home safely." Not getting an answer, she went to look over at Sara but stopped. She hit a large puddle of water and the traction control didn't kick in so the truck started to hydroplane, which caused her to turn white. She tried to control the truck as it slid all over the road. Before she knew it, she'd lost complete control and the truck started to flip over. Sara's screams and the crunching of metal echoed in her ears.

As the truck continued to flip, it crashed through the fence lining the storm drain. The fence added no protection as the truck landed sideways in the concrete channel, now filled with water. The entire accident last mere seconds, but it felt as if it lasted hours.

Warrick paced about the lab. He was getting nervous. Catherine had yet to arrive back at the lab, and knowing she was Sara was the only thing that was providing a little comfort. He knew Sara wouldn't let Catherine do anything stupid, but fear for them both of being hurt somewhere was overwhelming. He had tried to call a couple times, but was unable to get through.

"Rick, sit down, I'm sure they are both ok. They probably pulled over and waited out the storm." Nick looked up at Warrick.

"Nick's right, I mean the storm is bad, but…" Before Greg could continue the lab was thrown into complete darkness for just a moment, only to have the generator kick in, turning on emergency lights.

"Whoa!" Nick's eyes grew wide with shock. "I think you spoke too soon."

"Hey, where did Grissom run off to?" Warrick had just realized that Grissom hadn't been around for some time.

Greg looked around the barely lit room; everything looked and felt different in the dark. It felt kind of creepy actually. The beeps and shuffling of feet sent a chill to his bones. "He headed home. His mother is visiting. He wanted to check on her. He insisted on going."

"I hope he gets home okay." Nick poured himself another cup of coffee as best he could. "Rick, I'm sure the girls are safe somewhere."

Warrick shook his head. "This is the worst storm I've ever seen. And it's cold, if they get stuck somewhere…" He didn't want to think of it. He was right though, it was the worst storm Vegas had seen in years. The temperature wasn't any better; for the first time since the nineteen fifties, it had dipped under thirty degrees. "I can't think about it," Warrick muttered. He took a seat and waited for Catherine and Sara to walk through the door.

Catherine's knuckles were white from tightly gripping the steering wheel. Tears streamed down her face, when she realized it was all over. Taking a few deep breaths, she noticed the water was starting to slowly seep into half the submerged car. "Sara…Sara we need to get out. Sara?" She looked down and her co-worker and stared. "No…no…no." She unbuckled her seat belt and slowly let herself fall down into the water.

Sara started to come around when she felt someone touching her cheek. Moaning she opened her eyes. "What…" She noticed the position of which she was laying and looked to see Catherine kneeling beside her.

"Come on Sara, we need to get out of here." Catherine helped Sara free herself from the restraints of the seat belt. "You're hurt." She found a tissue in her pocket and pressed it against the younger woman's head. "Can you hold this?" When Sara had a hold of the tissue, Catherine helped her to feet. Catherine started to look around for something to break the car window with. Finding a screwdriver in the glove box, she climbed up to the driver's side window. "Cover your head."

Sara complied. She heard the glass break and felt the shards hit her head. "You alright?" She looked the blood soaked tissue from her head and threw it into the water, which was now up to her knees.

"Yeah." Catherine cleared the glass away and hoisted herself through the window. "Can you climb up?"

Sara quickly regretted disposing of the tissue when she felt more blood trickle down her face. "I think so." She maneuvered herself up to the window and took Catherine's hand. Once through the window, both women stood up and started to carefully but slowly walk the length of the car.

The metal of the car scrapped the bottom of the storm drain. The end of the car was only a couple feet from the edge of the concert wall. Catherine knew if they were both careful they could make it.

She managed to pull herself to land first, in spite of her sore muscles. "Just give me your hand." Catherine reached out for Sara. "I promise I won't let you fall!" She shouted over the rain and wind, which cut through her body like a knife. Sighing with relief when Sara's hand was in hers, she began to think the nightmare was almost over.

Sara stopped for an instant. She could feel the Denali under her feet start to move. "Cath…I…" The vehicle shifted, throwing her balance off and sending her falling into the water. Coming up for a breath, she fought to swim to safety. For she and her co-worker it seemed the more she tried to fight it the more she got carried away by the rushing of the water.

"SARA!" Catherine ran along the edge of the storm drain, tears streaming down her face. She fell to the ground crying. The last time she saw Sara, she was sucked under the water once more. "Sara…no…"

Pulling her phone out, Catherine prayed she could get through. "Dispatch, this is CSI Willows…" She cried even harder. 'Please hear me.' "Dispatch?" It was no use she couldn't get through.

Just as everything seemed lost, a car approached slowly. When it arrived, red and blue flashing lights appeared. Catherine didn't see the police officers run towards her or hear their calls. All she could do was sit on the ground repeating Sara's name.

"Miss, can you stand?" Officer Jones asked as he bent down to her. "Miss?" Jones looked into Catherine's face. "Catherine…Catherine what happened?" Jones waved his hand in the air, to alert his partner to call for an ambulance.

Catherine looked up at Jones, tears still falling from her eyes. "Sara…" Looking back to the water, she stared in the depths of the murky, rushing water. "She fell in, she needs help." Her head snapped back to Jones's. "You've got to help me get her out."

"Alright," Jones nodded his head, "first, let's get you in the car." Jones, now joined by his partner, Officer Braidly, helped Catherine to her feet.

"No, I'm fine, help Sara; she's the one who needs help." Catherine tried to get back to the edge of the water, but had no luck.

Just as the officers made it to their car, the ambulance and another car pulled up. "Jones, Braidly, what's going on?" Brass came up to the pair.

"Catherine?" Brass took a hold of Catherine. "You need to let the paramedics take a look at you." He tried to take her over to them himself.

"No, Jim…" Catherine struggled to get out of his grip. "Sara…she fell in…we have to get her out." She let Brass hold her when she completely broke down. "We have to get her out…" Collapsing from exhaustion, she fainted into his arms.


	2. Chapter 2: News

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: Thanks to Joan and Susan for the wonderful beta jobs. And thanks to everyone for the reviews.

**Chapter Two: News**

Back at Grissom's townhouse, he entered just as the power went out. "Could this night get any worse?"

_Grissom and Sara stood in the terminal of the airport awaiting the arrival of his mother. "Don't be so nervous, she'll love you." He kissed the side of her head._

"_You sure?" asked Sara looking nervously up at him._

"_Of course, who wouldn't love you?" replied Grissom as he wrapped his arm around her waist. _

_They stood in silence for a few moments before Grissom greeted a woman. "Mom, glad to see you," he signed to her before giving her a quick hug. "I would like you to meet someone very special." He moved to give his mother a better view of Sara. Then he walked back toward Sara and continued to sign to his mother. "Mom, this is Sara." _

_Grissom turned his attention to Sara, "And Sara this is my mother, Eva." _

"_It's nice to finally meet you." Sara signed while Grissom watched, surprised. _

In the darkness Eva's silhouette appeared as she lit candles. The soft pale lights dancing on the walls reminded Grissom of a night several weeks back.

_He and Sara were cuddling as they lay wrapped in a blanket._ _While he looked down at her, he felt the love he had for her had grown even more. In that_ _moment_ _he wished he could've bottled up this feeling and saved it._

Grissom snapped out of the memory when he heard plates being shuffled. A sad smile spread on his face. His mom had cooked dinner for himself, her, and Sara. They were all supposed to have a nice family meal.

"Where is she?" Eva looked at her son who stood alone in the middle of the floor. "She stood you up?" Even through her simple hand movements, she made it clear how upset she was.

"She was going to meet me here, but with this storm I think she might have gotten trapped at the lab. I left her several voice mails already so when the storm passes I know she will be over." Grissom hoped he was right. Last thing he wanted was another reason for his mother not to like Sara.

_While Eva was getting settled in, Sara and Grissom were in the kitchen making tea. Sara gave Grissom a quick kiss and then rushed out of the house saying something about a doctor's appointment involving women issues._

_Once Sara had left Eva walked out of the bedroom and found her son at the table. "Your place is beautiful." _

"_Thanks." Grissom smiled at his mom as she took a seat. "You need help finding anything?" _

"_No." Eva poured her own tea out and then gave her son a harsh look. "Sara, she…" She thought for a moment. "I do not like her. Gil I can tell she is just using you to further her career. Once she has a better placement, she will break your heart. Trust me on this, I know."_

"_Mom, Sara is not like that. We love each other. I would like it if you could give her a chance, for me." Grissom could understand his mother wanting to protect him; however he knew Sara better than anyone else in the world and she would never hurt him._

"_I know you think that Gil, but I feel what I feel. And I feel as if she is most certainly not trustworthy. Does she need to stay here with you and butt into our time together?" Eva had come to visit her son and not someone she felt was just pretending to love him._

"_Mom…" He didn't know what to do about that request._

"_Either she stays away or I will go back home." Eva stood up. "I think I might have a shower and lay down for a bit." She didn't let Grissom answer; she just turned and walked away._

After they had finished the dinner Eva made, Grissom cleared the table and stood in the kitchen. He looked down at his watch. It was getting late and he had not heard from Sara. His whole body ached and he kept feeling his throat tighten. A feeling of fear and darkness kept overcoming him. He had never felt anything like he was feeling. It was if he was drowning in a sea of murky water and the harder he fought the more he was pulled under. He pushed his thumb against the middle of his forehead as if he was trying to shake off the feeling.

Not being able to push the feeling away, he took out his cell phone and dialed Sara's number. Almost immediately Grissom got a prerecorded message stating that the customer was not available. With every minute that passed, he became more concerned.

"Is Sara still not answering her phone?" Eva asked her son.

"The weather…it has to be the lines. Sara, she might be upset but she would answer her phone." Grissom placed his hands down on the counter after he explained to his mother.

"Gil, do you see what she is doing here? She does not love you. She left you." Eva's hands flew as she talked to Grissom. She wanted to protect him from sadness of a broken heart. "Did I or did I not tell you she was just using you. Though if she left you what gives her the right to be upset with you?"

"I asked her to leave so you could get used to us. She got mad. I hurt her for you." Grissom shook his head. "She wanted me to tell you that we got married. It was me who kept it from you."

"Why would you do that?" Eva started to feel badly. She wished she had given Sara more of a chance. If she'd had known they were married she wouldn't have been so harsh.

"For you," Grissom took a step closer to his mom. "You were cold to her, even though she learned to sign for you. I had no idea she was doing that. Mom I love you but I love her as well. And I hope you understand that."

"I am truly sorry that I caused this pain; I thought I was saving you from a broken heart." Eva placed her hand on Grissom's shoulder. "What can I do?"

Grissom looked around the room. "Stay here in case she shows up. I need to find her."

Eva grabbed his arm when Grissom walked pass her. "Son, I know you are upset but wait until the weather clears."

"Mom…" Grissom was interrupted but a knock at the door. He smiled a bit and rushed to the door.

"Honey you…" He stopped mid-sentenced when he realized that it wasn't Sara on the other side of the door, but Brass.

"Gil, can I come in?" Brass asked his friend while trying to control his emotions. When Grissom moved to the side Brass entered the dark house. It was going to be hard to his friend about what had occurred earlier in the night. He knew Grissom was close to both women and could sympathize with the stress would be overwhelming feelings his friend had to be feeling.

Brass stopped when he saw a women standing in Grissom's kitchen. He suddenly remembered Grissom telling him that his mother was coming to visit. "I hope I'm not interrupting. I'm Jim Brass."

Eva shook Brass's hand and smiled at him. "Nice to meet you, Mister Brass. My name is Eva." Her voice was a bit raw due to the lack of use. She didn't speak much; she had forgotten the sound of her voice and didn't like to use it.

Grissom looked between the two of them. "Mom, could you give us a moment please?" After getting a nod, he watched as she exited the room.

"I didn't know your mother was deaf. I'm sorry." Brass felt badly that she might not have followed their conversation. .

Grissom explained to Brass that Eva could read lips and that she understood what was being said. He also told the older man that his mother preferred not to speak with her voice, but she did when she felt it necessary.

After all was explained he looked at his colleague "Jim, what's going on?" Grissom asked while he closed the door. "Has something happened at the lab?"

"No. Gil…maybe we should sit down." Brass blinked a few times as the lights suddenly came on with a flicker. His friend could see the tears building up as they both sat down.

Grissom knew deep down something was wrong and whatever it was it involved Sara. In the pit of his stomach he could feel guilt start to rise. He couldn't help but think if he hadn't pushed her away, she would be at home with him. Not only would she be home, but safe.

"There's been an accident." Brass held back for a moment, he knew how hard Grissom was going to take it. "Catherine lost control of the car and it landed in the storm drain. She and Sara both managed to get out. I'm not sure what happened, all I know is Catherine made it to safety but Sara fell into the water."

"Did she get out?" Grissom was in shock over what he was hearing. He didn't want to believe that his beautiful Sara was dead."

"Gil…" All Brass could do was shake his head. "She was swept under and carried away. We don't know where she is or if she's alive."

"She's alive. I'm going to go look for her." Grissom stood up went to walk to the door.

"Gil, let the rescue crews look for her body. We don't want you to drown, too." Brass knew time wasn't on Sara's side. With every tick of the clock her chance of survival decreased. "This weather…I've never seen anything like it here. The rain the cold, we might have to face reality."

"She's alive, I can feel her. If she were dead I'd know it." Grissom was sure Sara was somewhere hurt maybe, but not gone out of his life forever. He couldn't explain it, but he just knew she was out there and he needed to get to her fast.

"You can't go out there. You can't help look. They don't want any of us there. I'm not even allowed there either; so sit down and wait with me or I'll take you downtown and put you in a holding cell until there's news." Brass didn't like to give the ultimatum but he felt he needed to in order to keep Grissom from doing something rash.

After much inner turmoil and thought, Grissom reluctantly sat down. He felt as if he was abandoning Sara by not trying to find her, but he knew Brass was right. Helping with the search would hinder their efforts more than help.

"Where's Catherine?" Grissom hadn't meant to forget about the other injured member of his team. When the thought of Sara being dead crossed his mind, nothing else mattered.

"She's fine, she's at the hospital. They're keeping her overnight for observation. But other than exhaustion, she's stable. She's still out of it…" Brass looked at Grissom's reaction. "She tried to save her, Gil. Catherine was hysterical when I arrived on the scene. She has a lot of guilt to carry with her."

He felt as if the room was closing in on him. "I should tell the rest of the team." Grissom stood up to leave yet again.

"It's being taken care of. Sofia contacted Ecklie and he is going to tell them." Brass watched as Grissom sat back down. "I know what you are thinking, but he is concerned about Sara. Since Sara is from California, he was going to inform her family himself unless you want to do that."

Grissom thought for a moment. "No…there's nobody to contact. She's been alone since she was a little girl."

Brass could see the look in Grissom's eyes. He knew there was some painful story behind those simple words. However, he wasn't going to press Grissom for the information.

In the bedroom, Eva sat on her bed and flipped on the television. She was watching the news and saw there was a search going on for a missing person. When the picture flashed on the screen she felt a horrible ache in her heart. 'What did I do?' The guilt began to sit in. She thought maybe if she hadn't been so hard on Sara then she would still be there.


	3. Chapter 3: Finding

Disclaimer: Yeah well if I owned them I wouldn't be writing fan fiction

A/N: A big thank you to my wonderful betas **Joan** and **Susan**. And a major thanks for all the reviews thus far.

**Chapter Three: Finding**

_As Catherine walked past the break room, she saw Sara and Greg working on a case file. Both looked bored. Looking down at the slip of paper in her hand, Catherine decided to recruit one of them. "Hey, I've got a fresh one. You want to give me hand? With this storm heading our way I could use some help."_

"_Sorry Cath, I'd love to but I'm kinda busy," explained Greg, not lifting his eyes off his case file._

_Catherine let out a soft sigh. "Sara?"_

_Sara closed her file and looked up. She seemed to be looking past Catherine. Tears looked as if they were threatening to come, but Sara did her best to push them back. "Sure, I just finished this one. I'll meet you in the car in five."_

"_Thanks for the help." Catherine walked out of the room and down the hall._

Catherine drifted slowly in and out of consciousness. Her mind laid somewhere between reality and a peaceful existence. Blurry images clouded her head, and she wondered if she had had some frightening nightmare that was fading in her subconscious. She fought to gain control and wake up. As she started to come to, the aches and pains told her whatever had happened hadn't been a hallucination.

Her eyes fluttered open.

As she looked around she wondered how she had gotten there. Thinking hard, she struggled to remember everything that had happened that night. Nothing was coming to her and she closed her eyes tightly.

Blurry, black and white images played like an old silent movie in her mind. Rain pounding on the windshield as she drove along. But it was different -- something wasn't quite right. 'Why was I sideways?' Before she could think of an answer she saw herself standing alone in the dry storm gutter near where she had found Lindsey a few years back. She looked around and saw Sara standing at the far end.

As Catherine drew closer to her younger co-worker she noticed Sara was soaking wet. "Sara, what's wrong? Why are you wet?"

Before Sara could answer a large giant sized hand composed of dirty murky water appeared from behind her and swallowed her up within its palm. As quickly as the hand had manifested itself, it disappeared, taking Sara along with it. The only trace that remained was the echo of her scream.

Snapping her eyes open, Catherine jumped out of the bed and began to frantically look for her clothing or something other than the hospital gown.

"Hey." Warrick saw her from the open door and came running into the room. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He tried hard to get Catherine back into bed to no avail.

"No…I've got to help find her!" Catherine was fighting to free herself from Warrick's grasp. "It's my fault…" She trembled as she looked into Warrick's eyes.

It pained him to see her in such a state. "Come on, get back in bed. You won't do Sara any good going out and getting hurt."

"They've found her, right? She's okay?" Catherine searched Warrick's eyes for the truth. She could see him holding back tears of his own and she knew the answer. "No…please no." She tried to move past Warrick once again but had no luck. Grief overtook her as she banged her fist against his chest.

"I'm sorry," murmured Warrick as he pulled Catherine into a tight hug. "Let's get you back in bed. Things will work out." He carefully helped her into her bed and covered her up. "Your mom and Lindsey are in the waiting room. I'm going to get them. Can I trust you to stay here?"

Catherine nodded.

"I'll be right back." Warrick caressed Catherine's cheek with his hand before walking out.

Across town Nick and Greg were walking down a side street. They were both told their help in the search for Sara was not needed and to go home and wait for news. Neither could just sit by the phone, so when the rain had finally stopped they hit the streets. The storm drains had to carry her somewhere. Both men decided to take to the streets, looking in the storm drains.

"This is bull shit. We should be helping to look for Sara." Nick stomped through water as he and Greg walked to the next drain.

"We are." Greg was just as frustrated as Nick was. Sara had become more than just a friend to him. He always knew when she was nearby. He could be feeling down and the scent of vanilla and sugar cane filling his airway would bring a smile to his face. Losing Sara would take that all away and it was eating him up.

Nick got on his knees to look into the small opening in the curb. "Yeah, I'm going to look down here and fi…" He suddenly stopped talking as the small beam from his flashlight caught something. "Sara."

"What?" Greg didn't hesitate to bend own beside Nick. "She's not moving."

"She's fine." Nick looked harshly at Greg. "Go back to the truck I put some blankets and ropes in the back just in case. I'm calling for help." He looked to see Greg just staring blankly at him. "Now, Greg!"

Greg took off running down the street. Some might have said 'he ran for his life' but he would argue saying he ran for Sara's. It was the most important thought at that moment. When he finally made it to the Denali, his lungs ached and burned. He pushed that feeling back while grabbing the requested items, then headed back.

Once Greg had taken off down the street, Nick pulled out his phone and dialed the number the rescue workers had set up for Sara. His body shook in fear as he waited for someone to pick up. After five rings someone finally picked up and Nick froze for a moment. "Umm…I've found her, Sara Sidle. I can see her under the street here…sorry, on Rhinestine Street. In fact, it's right after the corner of Rhinestine and Gubard." He became impatient as he heard the operator type things in slowly. The big shock came when the operator told him there would be a wait on getting help to him. "That's too long. She'll be dead before then…I work with her, I know what she looks like. Please she looks bad…damn it!" He ended the call when Greg arrived back.

"Here, what are these for?" While catching his breath, Greg placed the items down next to Nick. "Please tell me you aren't going to do something stupid."

"Greg, they're at least fifteen minutes from checking this lead out. She's not going to last much longer there. She could die, or move further down the drain. And if they aren't going to come, one of us is going to have to go down in there." Nick walked over to the man hole and lifted it up. "We need to tie that rope on to something." He grabbed it. "What do you think? Should we tie it to the light pole?"

Greg thought for a second, suddenly getting an idea. He wondered why it hadn't occurred to him as he ran back to the truck earlier. "I'll be right back." He returned to the vehicle. As he ran, he cursed himself for being stupid and not thinking about driving the car back the first time. He was wasting valuable minutes now. When he got to the car he flung the door open and jumped inside. He didn't bother to put his seat belt on as he turned on the Denali and floored it to Nick's location.

Nick jumped out of the way upon seeing the car heading straight towards him. He realized what Greg's plan was. It was better than his.

After Greg got out of the car, he and Nick quickly attached the ropes to the bumper of the car. Once snug and tight, Nick took off his jacket.

"Nick let me go; I can get to her faster." Greg didn't wait for an answer and started to strip down to one layer. "Once we get her out, one of us will need to get her warm. And you're bigger than I am."

"Fine, just hurry." Nick didn't want to argue when they could be getting Sara out of the water. He watched as Greg attached one rope to himself and climbed into the small opening. He watched as his friend continued down the ladder.

Greg looked down at the cold water just one step from his feet. Taking a deep breath, he lowered himself down into the dirty, frigid liquid. He could feel the coldness all the way to his bones. He couldn't imagine how Sara must feel. Moving over to her, he could see the color of her skin and lips. He prayed it was just because she was cold and not dead. After attaching the second rope to Sara's waist, he attempted to free her vest that was caught on a ragged piece of metal.

"Come on!" Greg pulled and tugged on the vest trying to free it without any avail. "Forget it." He gave up trying to loosen it, so he just unzipped the vest and pulled her out of it.

Nick was waiting at the top of the manhole for Greg. Once they got Sara out they would have to get her warmed up. An idea came to him and he rushed back to the truck and turned it on. He set the heat setting as high as it could go in case they had to take Sara to the hospital.

"Nick! You up there, man?" Greg shouted from the darkness beneath the street.

"Yeah!" Nick ran back over and got onto his stomach. "Get her up here." He held his hands down in the hole and reached out for her as Greg inched closer to the city's surface. "A bit more…" His heart raced when Sara was just inches from his finger tips.

Once Nick could safely grab her, he wrapped his hands around her. "Got her." Holding her as tightly as he could, he moved back until he was able to pull Sara completely out of the opening. He placed her flat on the ground. Checking her over he could make out a very faint heart beat; however she wasn't breathing.

"How is she?" Greg asked as pulled himself up. "Is she breathing?"

"Just get ready to take off, I'll take care of her" Nick straddled Sara, moved her head to the side, placed one hand on the other, and thrust his clasped hands upwards just below her rib cage.

"That's it. Come on Sara." Nick was happy when water started to come up. Once he was sure he got all could, he moved over to her, kneeling beside her. He moved her head back and listened to see if he could hear breathing.

"Should you move her head like that?" Greg asked Nick while he finished putting some dry clothes on. "What if her neck is hurt and you cause more damage?"

Nick breathed into Sara's mouth. He didn't think she had a neck injury, but even if she did, her life was the most important thing at the moment. "Well it could've gotten worse as she was swept down the storm drain." He gave Sara another breath.

"Good point." Greg finished untying the ropes from the bumper of the car and replaced the manhole cover just in time to hear Sara cough slightly.

"Sara?" Nick touched the side of her check as Sara struggled to open her eyes. "Come on, open your eyes." He watched as she opened them for a second and then closed them again. "Damn it."

"Should we wait for them?" Greg looked around for any sign of help.

Nick shook his head. "We're not going to have time. We need to get her clothes off and get her in the car." His hands paused at her pants for a moment before he started to undo them. "You're going to have to drive while I'm in the back with her. First, though, I need you to help me out."

Greg helped Nick get Sara undressed and in the car. Once she was safely in the car, he saw Nick start to strip down. "Nick?" He shook his head at his friend. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Greg, her body temperature too low. She needs to get warm and now; if she doesn't, she won't make it." Nick grabbed one of the blankets and wrapped it around himself before sliding over Sara's body and holding her tightly.

Greg shut the door once Nick was in. Hopping into the car, he looked back at Nick. "Should we call Grissom or Brass or someone?"

"They're probably already at the hospital with Catherine, so just drive. If they aren't there we will call them." Nick shivered slightly against Sara's body. "Just go."

_Brass was on the way back from a Crime Scene when he heard a report of an accident. Seeing the lights up a head he pulled up just as the ambulance arrived. He jumped out of the car when he recognized Jones and Braidly. He ran over to them asking them what was wrong and when he saw Catherine. He had never seen her in such a state. What had really gotten to him was how she was carrying on about Sara._

_He realized the jest of what Catherine was telling him as she passed out and he caught her. After getting her into the ambulance and calling in search and rescue, he headed over to give Grissom the news._

A knock at the door brought Brass out of his thoughts. He watched as Grissom headed to the door and returned followed by Officers Jones and Braidly. He noted how neither looked he or Grissom in the eye. "Jones? Braidly? What's going on?"

"Dispatch informed us that you'd be here sir." Officer Jones stated to the Captain. "There have been calls all night about possible leads. All have been a dead end, except one." Jones handed Grissom a clear bag with Sara's vest in it. "By the time we were able to get there, the person who called it in was gone."

Grissom could feel his legs start to give out. Taking a seat he peered into the bag. Sara's vest was torn and a small amount of blood remained unwashed by the water that had consumed her for so long. "Did…is she…did you find her?"

Neither officer wanted to answer. The news had reached the sheriff and Ecklie. "No." Braidly finally answered. "Search and Rescue aren't making her priority anymore. They said she's been missing too long and there are better leads coming in for other missing people. They said it's been too long, the chances of finding her alive are slim."

Meanwhile Nick and Greg had arrived at the hospital shortly before. "Her name is Sara Sidle, she fell in the storm drain a few hours ago," Nick explained to the Emergency Room staff as they rushed her in on a gurney. "I tried to warm her up and keep her awake, but she keeps going in and out of consciousness."

"Sara? I'm Doctor Harris. Can you open your eyes for me?" The doctor waited for a moment before he noticed Sara moving her lips to say something. "What was that?" He leaned in as she mouthed the words again.

"Is she going to be okay?" Nick asked, still in his boxers.

"We're going to do everything we can. Just get her family in here." The doctor and nurses disappeared down the hall from where Nick and Greg stood.

"I'll call Brass and Grissom if you want to go get your clothes back on." Greg told Nick.

Nick nodded and walked out to where they had left the car.

Brass and Grissom hadn't spoken since Officers Jones and Braidly left. Both sat in silence trying to make sense of the reality. The only thing that seemed to snap them out of their anguished thoughts was the ringing of Brass's cell phone.

"Brass…hey Nick, now's not a great…" Brass listened hard. "Wait, what did you say?" He jumped up from his seat; he couldn't believe what he was being told. "I'm at Grissom's now, we'll be there soon."

Brass closed his phone. "That was Greg…he and Nick were the ones that called in that tip about Sara. They got her out and took her to the hospital. They're with her now."

Grissom grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled something down on it. After placing it on the table, he and Brass bolted from the house. Brass insisted on driving, which left Grissom sitting in the passenger seat to think about the night's earlier events.

_Grissom sat alone in his office going over paper work. He hadn't spoken to Sara since she'd left their home two days prior. The night before, she had called and left a message saying she wouldn't be in, due to the fact she wasn't feeling well. He had seen her today catching up on paper work but there were people around so he decided to talk with her later. When he looked up he saw her walk in. "Hi."_

_Sara's eyes darted to the floor. "Hi." She walked closer to him and handed him the folder. "Here." She looked at him with pain in her eyes as she handed him the folder. Their hands touched for a moment before she pulled away. "Catherine's asked me to go with her to scene." She nodded her head, and then turned to walk out._

"_Sara!" Grissom jumped from his seat and walked over to her. "We need to work this out." He took her hands. "Tell Catherine I need you here. We have a couple hours left and I want you to come home and have dinner. My mother needs to get to know you. If you want I'll drop you back at where you're staying and you can have a shower and get cleaned up." He looked around to make sure no eyes where watching and then he stroked her cheek. "Just tell me what you want."_

"_I told Catherine I'd be out there by now. I'll meet you at ho…your house." Sara's hurt was deep in her eyes. She softly shook her head and walked out of the room, leaving Grissom there to watch her._

Grissom had tunnel vision as he raced down the hall where Nick and Greg stood. He didn't know as of yet the efforts the pair had taken to save the love of his life. At that moment all he wanted was to get the chance to tell Sara what an idiot he had been and how he wished he could take it all back. "How is she?"

"We don't know boss." Nick could see the fear and concern in Grissom's eyes. "It might be awhile yet."

Brass just nodded his head. "Has anyone told Catherine?"

"No. We didn't want to leave Sara. Plus we thought we would wait until we knew more. I couldn't tell Catherine we found Sara, only to have to tell her later she died." Greg looked at the six wide eyes and three mouths hung open. "Not saying she will die, I mean…just…what if, you know."

"She should know." Grissom looked at the other. "I'm going to go let someone know I'm here."

Once Grissom had walked off, Brass looked at the two men standing next to him. "Let's leave Grissom and go see Catherine. I want to hear about how you guys found her."

"Right. Should we tell Grissom where we're going?" Nick stopped to ask Brass.

Brass understood why Nick was concerned, but he knew Grissom needed to be alone while he waited for news. "He'll know."


	4. Chapter 4: Healing

**Disclaimer:** Still don 't own them.

**A/N:** Thanks to **Joan** and **Susan** for the great beta job. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews thus far. On a side note **Chapter 5** might be a day or two late coming up, everyone has been six the past two weeks so haven't had time to finish it.

**Chapter Four:**

Grissom stood staring inside the ICU window as doctors looked over Sara, while trying to remain calm. However as each minute passed his anger grew. He was angry with everyone, more so with himself. He would've given anything in that moment to turn time back and stop her from walking out the door. The memory of her look of extreme hurt and despair would haunt him until the day he died.

_Two days ago everything was great. Grissom and Sara were in the kitchen cleaning up after supper. Once they were finished he pushed her against the counter and started to kiss her. He noticed his mother glaring at them. _

_She pulled back from him, resting her hands on his chest. "I need to tell you something." _

_Grissom nodded his head. "Same here." He smiled at her and then looked around still noticing the harsh looks his mother was giving him. "Come with me." He took her hand and led her to the bedroom._

_Once the door was closed Sara looked up. "You…you first." _

"_Are you sure?" Grissom didn't want to go first but he could see Sara was nervous about something._

"_Yes," was the only answer she gave._

_Grissom looked down at her. He didn't want to say the words but he knew he had to. All he wanted was to hang onto the moment as long as her could, but he knew he needed to just say it and pray Sara would understand. "I think we should take a break for a bit."_

_Sara felt as if she could hardly breathe. "What?" Sitting down she tried to understand. She wondered why. What had she done wrong to make him want to do this? _

"_Not forever, just until my mother can get used to this…to us." Grissom took a seat next to Sara on the bed. _

"_You can't just take a break from marriage each time things get a bit rough Grissom. It's wrong." Sara jumped up, raising her voice as she spoke. "What if she never gets used to it, then what? You going to file for divorce?" _

"_No," Grissom tried to calm her down. _

"_No? Are you sure about that?" Sara was becoming very angry. "We're married Gil. Married!"_

"_Honey, you're being unreasonable." Grissom hadn't meant to say that, but he didn't know what else to do. Being torn between his mother and his wife was a situation he never thought he would be in. _

"_I can't believe this." Sara's voice was considerably lower. "I hope you know what you are doing."_

"_Sara, please just give me some time." Grissom took her hands. "I do love you."_

_Sara looked angrily at him. "Don't... don't say you love me." She pulled her arms out from his grasp. "You know what, fine, you want me gone -- I'm gone." She moved to the closet and pulled a bag out._

"_Sara…"_

"_Get out so I can pack." She looked at him sternly. _

"_I'm sorry." _

_Sara ignored him and carried on packing her bag as if he wasn't even in the room. _

"Mister Grissom." Grissom didn't react. "Mister Grissom, excuse me."

Wiping his eyes, he turned to the doctor. "Yes, sorry. How is she?" Grissom searched the doctor's eyes.

"I'm Doctor Harris." The doctor looked around the hall for empty seats. He knew from years of experience that this type of news could make any man feel as if the world was crumbling underneath him. "Let's have a seat." Grissom didn't move so the doctor touched his shoulder, "Mister Grissom, please."

Reluctantly, Grissom went and sat down. It was bad if they asked people to sit down. He was trying hard to hold back his tears. 'She can't be gone, she can't. There are so many things we need to do. I need to tell her I'm sorry. It can't be the end already.'

"Miss Sidle..."

Grissom shock his head, "No. She's…we're married. She decided not to change her last name."

"Sorry, I didn't know." Doctor Harris took a moment to pause. "She was in the water a long time, by all rights she should be dead by now." It may have been harsh of him to say, however, he was the type of doctor who didn't sugar coat anything. He felt it was better to be up front and honest than to beat around the bush. His belief was that the more time he wasted trying to make bad things sound better than they were, was less time he would have helping someone. "But she's a strong one; she's still hanging on and fighting. When they brought her in she was suffering from hypothermia. She was drifting in and out of consciousness.

We've sent some blood work and culture swaps to the labs, and started her on some antibiotics. I think it's safe to assume she has aspirated pneumonia. She was having trouble breathing when they found her and we've now put her on a ventilator." Doctor Harris stopped for a moment, to let that information sink in for Grissom. "There is one thing we need to discuss. We might have to give her stronger antibiotics, and with the combination of the antibiotics, the sedation medication, and her injuries, it could make her body abort the babies or if they survive they could be born with physical or mental defects, not to mention the effects it could have on Sara. You might want to think about ending the pregnancy now in order to help your wife."

"Babies?" The word swarmed around Grissom's head. He couldn't seem to comprehend what he was being told. Babies? He thought the doctor made a mistake. Sara never told him she was pregnant. Then it clicked to him. She had wanted to tell him something. The guilt was sinking in even more, and it made him feel sick. She wanted to tell him he was going to be a father, and he decided they needed a break to help his mother adjust.

"Sorry, fetuses." Doctor Harris hadn't meant to say babies. In his view they were babies just as much inside the womb as out. "She managed to tell me she was pregnant when she came in. I gave her a quick ultra sound to see how far she was so we would know what to expect. She's about ten weeks."

"No," Grissom was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't see Brass, Nick, and Greg walk up to him and the doctor. Looking up at the doctor, he stated, "Wait until Sara wakes up and let her decide. It has to be her decision."

"Gil," Brass placed his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Can I see her now?" His voice was shaky and he didn't want the others to see him break down.

"Sure, only five minutes though. Even though she's unconscious, she still needs quiet." The doctor explained to him, before standing up.

Grissom took only a second to pause, looking at the three men who were there with him, before he followed the doctor into Sara's ICU room. Walking over to her, he could feel his knees shaking. It tore the ridged broken pieces of his heart right from his chest to look at her on the bed. With all the tubes and lines they had in her, he could barely tell it was her. Walking over to her, he took her hand in one of his, while the other one stroked her hair.

"I'm here, darling." Bending down, he kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry." He took her hand. He placed his head against hers and cried. All the feelings he had been holding in ever since their fight, he let out. "I need you, please come back to me."

Forty-eight hours later Grissom was standing outside Sara's room while the doctors took her off the ventilator. The doctor had told him it was time to take her off and see what happened.

Brass walked up to Grissom. Staring at the silhouettes moving behind the curtain, he cleared his throat, "Gil, I think you should head home, clean up a bit, grab some food, and get some sleep. It might be awhile before she wakes up, and you know full well you won't want to leave her."

"She might not want to see me." Grissom was trying to keep himself together.

"Does she have a brain injury?" inquired Brass as he turned to his friend.

"No…not that they're aware of," Grissom hoped the accident hadn't caused any long-lasting injuries. He felt he owed it to her to be there every moment. He couldn't help thinking that it was entirely his fault. If he had let her tell him about the babies, she wouldn't have been harmed.

Brass nodded his head for a moment. "Come on, Catherine will stay with Sara, and I'll stay with you at home and when Sara wakes up, we'll rush back."

After the doctor came out and told him it could be hours until Sara would wake up. After much persuasion from the nurses, Brass, and Catherine, Grissom reluctantly left the hospital.

Lily watched Catherine stroke Sara's hand. Her daughter was suffering and she felt bad for her. "Stop blaming yourself, you know this was _not_ your fault." All she could do was watch as Catherine laid her head down next to Sara's hand and cried harder.

'Please let her wake up and be fine. I promise I will listen to her from now on just let her be ok.' Catherine thought as she cried harder. She hated this, and everyone was acting so nice, not even Grissom seemed to blame her, however, that just made her feel worse. She wanted them to yell at her, to tell her she was at fault, or not speak to her at all and refuse to allow her to see Sara.

Lily was sitting in chair across the room reading a book, while Catherine rested her head against Sara's hand. It had been nearly three hours since they both took over the waiting game. She knew Grissom would be coming back within the hour and she would have to pry her daughter away from the bedside. Before she went to start a new chapter something caught her eye. At first she thought she was imaging it, but once she took a second glance she realized she was seeing it. "Catherine." She walked over and shook Catherine's shoulder slightly.

Catherine nearly jumped out of her seat when her mother touched her. "What?"

"Look." Lily simply point to the bed.

Catherine stood up in shock. She noticed Sara was moving her head slightly. "Sara?" The woman got closer and whispered in Sara's ear. "Come on, that's it wake up." When Sara stopped moving her head, Catherine cried in frustration, "Please Sara!"

Sara could hear Catherine talking above the sound of beeping noises, and she was fighting to open her eyes to see where she was. However, when she tried to open them, it felt as her eyelids where glued shut. She was fighting to remember what had happened. The last thing she remembered was reaching for Catherine's hand, and then everything turned black. Moaning a few times, she finally managed to open her eyes. After a few tries she locked eyes with her co-worker for a moment, before shutting them again. "I…I told…you to…pull over." She managed to stammer.

Catherine laughed a little, while tears poured from her eyes. "Yes you did." She pulled Sara into her arms the best she could and held her. "I'm so sorry."

"I'll go get someone," Lily said while she walked to the door.

Catherine pulled away; looking into Sara's now fully opened eyes. "What's wrong?" She could see an overwhelming sadness in her eyes.

Sara was hurt not to see Grissom in there. She thought maybe he would be, but she figured his break meant from caring as well. Then her mind drifted to what she had been told only two days before the fight.

"_Well Sara you'll be happy to know that you aren't ill, but pregnant," Doctor Camden said joyfully, while she wrote in the file. "Now, do you remember when the first day of your last period was?" _

"_No, sometimes I skip a month, so it's been close to two months. I knew something was wrong when I was late on the second. Umm, I think it was around the tenth." Sara sat in shock over the news. One thing for sure, she wasn't certain how she was going to tell Grissom about it._

"_Alright, I'll call the imaging department and schedule an ultrasound for you so we can see how far along you are." _

"Good to see you awake love." An older woman smiled at Sara as she walked in the door. "I know a certain man who will be thrilled to see you." She checked Sara vitals quickly. "Are you feeling okay? Hurting anywhere?"

"No, just a little sore, and tired…really tired," Sara explained sleepily.

"That's to be expected. The doctor should be in soon. Do you have any questions?" The nurse wrote a few things down.

Coughing a couple times, she answered the woman. "What about the baby?" Sara feared the worst.

Before the nurse could answer, Nick, Warrick and Greg rushed in. "There's the cavalry," announced the nurse as she walked to the door. "Keep the visit short, she needs her rest."

After the nurse left Sara was smothered in kisses and hugs. Each member of the team fought for who was next to hold her in their arms. In the fifty-five hours she had been missing and hospitalized, they had time to reflect on what she meant to them.

Twenty minutes later Grissom stormed down the hall. He cursed himself for falling asleep for the forty minutes on the couch. He wondered, 'What if he hadn't taken a nap would he have been back at the hospital when Sara woke up? With every step, his heart started to beat faster. His hope was he would be able to fix things. He needed to fix things; he couldn't lose her now; not since she was almost taken from him. Stopping in the doorway, their eyes met.

Looking into Grissom's tear filled eyes; Sara didn't know what to think. She was still hurting over their fight. "Hi," her voice cracked a bit.

"You're awake." Grissom walked slowly over to the bed as the other members of the team parted away from Sara.

"Yeah," Sara was finding it a bit harder to hold herself together. Trying her best to smile, while she watched Grissom walk closer to her, she let a tear slip down her face.

Grissom took her hand for a moment, circling the back of it with his thumb. "You had me so scared." As he looked into her eyes, he was unaware that the others in the room were sneaking out. "I'm sorry." Not being able to take it anymore, he quickly sat down, pulling her into his arms. "I thought I lost you forever." He continued to hold her, finally allowing tears to freely fall from his eyes.

Sara sighed with relief onto Grissom's shoulder. There wasn't a word to describe how she felt in that moment. She let herself melt in his arms. "Do you know?"

Grissom pulled away from Sara and looked deep in her eyes. "I do. Sara…" He could see the worry in her eyes. "Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yeah," Sara looked down. "I know its bad timing and we didn't plan it…but it made me think and I never thought I wanted to have children but I do and now my only chance is gone." Covering her face, she cried softly.

"What do you mean gone?" Grissom pulled her into a hug and held her close. "They already gave you an ultrasound since you been awake?" He felt her shake her head. "Then we don't know if you lost them or not."

"Them?" Sara's voice trembled against Grissom's chest.

"They told me when they brought you in, you were having twins." Grissom held her close to his body. "They wanted me to abort them but I couldn't. It's my understanding they're going to give you an ultrasound." As he continued to hold her, the thought dawned on him that he shouldn't have said anything about there being twins, it would be doubly hard on her if they found out both were gone. "I'm sorry if…that I hurt you."

"Are you upset about the pregnancy?" Sara snuggled deeper into his chest, afraid to look at him.

"No…It's a big shock but I'm just happy you're safe." Grissom looked down at Sara as he placed his hand under her chin. Once he had his eyes locked with hers, he pressed his lips against hers.

Out in the hall the team watched through the window, their mouths hanged so wide open you'd swear they were trying to catch flies. They wondered if they were seeing things due to their lack of sleep in the past few days.

"Good to see Grissom has finally come around," Catherine said to others as she wiped a tear away.

"I think you're late on that." Brass gave the others a deadpan look. "Romeo there came around a while ago. He and Sara have been married for nearly a year now."

"Wait…what?" Catherine turned to Brass.

"That explains _so_ much." Nick shook his head.

Catherine still couldn't believe what she was hearing; and that she was hearing it from Brass. "How do you know this?"

"Gil told me when I took him back to his house. And while he was asleep his mom and I had a talk. Gil asked me to tell you guys if it came up, though I'm not sure why." Brass turned to face the others. "Everyone go home. There's nothing more to see now."

Reluctantly they all made their way down the hall towards the exit; everyone that is except Brass who ducked into one the waiting rooms where Eva Grissom was seated. He could see in her face the sadness since she was the cause of all of this pain.

Brass got Eva's attention so she could read his lips when he spoke, "Would you like to go see Sara?"

"Yes, I'd like that." Eva gave Brass a weak smile.

Back in Sara's room the doctor came in followed by a women pushing an ultrasound machine. He smiled as Sara and Grissom pulled apart from each other. "Sara, you are looking much better. I'm sorry I couldn't get in here sooner, I had an emergency."

"I understand." Sara leant back down on the bed so the doctor could check her over. "Can he stay here?"

The doctor pulled back the screen so passer bys couldn't see in the room. "Of course." The doctor carefully looked over Sara. He took her blood pressure, her temperature, checked all reflexes, her eyes, nose, ears and mouth. He listened to her lungs and heart, and looked over her cuts and bruises. "Your blood work came back from the lab, I think it will be safe to drop the dosage of your medication and you will be moving to a new room. "First though we want to get a look at these babies, is that alright with you?"

"Yes." Sara took a few deep breaths and watched the women set up the machine. She started to cough a bit more.

"Let's see if I can get a good picture." The woman asked Sara her information and typed it all in. Once that was all done she took some gel and squeezed it over Sara's abdomen and began the ultrasound. She and the doctor spent ages looking over the monitor and taking measurements.

Outside the room Brass and Eva watched silhouettes move behind a screen. They wondered what was going on in the room, but all they could do was wait.

"Is everything alright?" Grissom finally asked worried that something was wrong due to the time it was taking.

"Yeah, one more minute." The woman and the doctor pointed at the screen a few more times. Then she turned the screen to Grissom and Sara. "Here is baby A." The woman pointed out the tiny figure on the screen. "The flashing is its heart." She then pointed out baby B. The woman pulled a few of photos from the bottom of the machine and handed them all to the doctor, then left the room.

"As of right now they both look like they are doing well. However, you need to be monitored frequently. I'll send my recommendations to your doctor so they know what is going on. Other than that they look great." The doctor took Sara's file and chart out, then handed them some of the ultrasound photos. "These are for the two of you. I'll be by to check on you at the end of shift." The doctor pulled back the curtain and turned back to them. "Any questions?"

"When can I go home?" Sara asked as she caught a glimpse of the two people behind the glass.

"We'll see how you feel in a couple days, alright?" The doctor smiled at the two. Before Sara could answer the doctor got paged. "I'm sorry, I have to take this but I'll be back to answer any questions you have."

"Alright, thank you." Sara smiled up at the doctor before looking back at the photos in her hand.

Once the doctor left the room Eva walked in and looked at the two. She didn't know what to say to them, so she just watched them. She could tell they were in love, but she still had fears for her son. She wondered what the doctor told them to make their smiles so big.

Sara looked up and noticed Eva at the foot of her bed now. She didn't know what to say to her. Looking down at the photo again, she told Grissom his mom was there.

Grissom looked up and smiled at his mother before signing, "Mom, would you like to see photos of your grandbabies?"


	5. Chapter 5: Interweaves

Disclaimer: I still don't own them.

A/N: Thanks to **Susan** and **Chris** for the great beta job. Also thanks to everyone who has left reviews.

**CHAPTER FIVE: INTERWEAVES**

"So tell us about it," commanded Catherine as she sat down on the couch next to Warrick. She had invited the guys over after they left the hospital. Everyone was too preoccupied over Sara and Grissom to talk about the recent events. They were all too tired to sleep, so Catherine invited them over. She had only heard that Nick and Greg found Sara, but hadn't heard anything else. "I want to hear how you found her."

Nick sat back against the wall. "There's not a lot to say. We went out looking for her, found her, and took her to the hospital."

"Wait, got her out and took her to the hospital?" Warrick sat up a bit and looked at the other two men. "Why didn't you call for help? You could've gotten hurt and seriously injured Sara."

"We called and there was a wait on help. What were we suppose to do? Just stand there and let her die?" Greg looked at Warrick and Catherine. "We used a safety line and I was careful."

"What if she had a neck injury? You could've done more harm." Catherine was shocked they risked injuring Sara even more. "You two were very lucky."

"What were we supposed to do, Cath, leave her down there to die? We didn't call for an ambulance 'cause they wouldn't have been able to go in the water for her. She needed the rescue team. And they were going to make us wait at least fifteen minutes. Sara didn't have that much time. Her life took value over her ability to walk."

"You still took a big risk though." Warrick understood why they did what they did, and if he was to be honest with himself, he would've done the same thing.

"It was worth it," stated Nick as he took a sip of his drink.

"Just make sure Grissom doesn't find out about you stripping her and yourself down to warm her up!" laughed Greg. He was shocked when he noticed Nick stripping down. He never thought Nick could be like that.

"You did what?" Catherine looked at Nick.

"She was hypothermic. Body heat is a good way of getting another's body temperature warmer. I had to try."

Warrick nodded his head. "Speaking of Grissom and Sara, what's this about them being married? Did she say anything to you when she woke up?"

"Not a lot. She was saying how she told me to pull over. Umm, she told the nurse how she was feeling and before you all rushed in she asked…" Catherine trailed off for a moment. It had suddenly occurred to her what Sara had asked the nurse.

Warrick looked at Catherine with a raised eyebrow. "What is it?"

"She asked if the baby was okay." Catherine looked at the men.

"Baby?" Greg sat forward. "Sara's going to have a baby?"

"Grissom's going to be a father?" Warrick shook his head. "You think it'll come out talking? With the two of them being intelligent they must be breeding a new form of human." He laughed but stopped when he saw the look on Catherine's face. "What is it?"

Catherine's face was white as a sheet. She had a new wave of guilt that settled in her gut. "Sara went through a lot. She might have lost it." She wiped a few tears away. "I'll never forgive myself if she has."

"It wasn't your fault, Cath. It just happened. You couldn't have known what was going to happen." Warrick wrapped his arm around Catherine. "We'll go back and see Sara in the morning; maybe she'll know more about it then. And she might be more up to having visitors then."

"Yeah." Catherine rested her head against Warrick's shoulder. "Do you think we should throw them a party once Sara is feeling better?"

"I'm not doing a baby shower thing; I'll leave that to you and Sara." Greg stretched his arms in the air.

"I was thinking about a wedding slash anniversary slash just-happy-to-be-alive party." Catherine threw a pillow at Greg. "I think we all could use an escape after the hell we've all been through the past few days."

"Sounds good to me." Nick yawned and looked at his watch. "I should head home; I have to be in early tomorrow…today, and I should try and get some sleep."

"Same here." Greg gave his eyes a quick rub.

"Why don't you two stay here? Linds is at a friend's tonight and my mother, she decided to stay at her own place." Catherine looked at her co-workers. "One of you could take the couch and the other could take the spare room."

"What about Warrick?" Greg snickered at the look Catherine and Warrick gave each other. "Well looks like Grissom and Sara aren't the only two who have a secret."

Catherine just rolled her eyes and stood up. "So you two staying or not?"

"That'd be great. Thanks, Cath." Nick thanked her for her kindness.

"Great." Catherine walked out of the room for a few moments and brought back a stack of blankets and a couple pillows. "You two can deck it out over who gets the couch and the bed. It's the second door on the right side of the hall. I think I'm going to go try and sleep now, so you know where the bathroom is. Towels are in the hall closet, and help yourselves to food in the kitchen." She ended her long-winded statement with a quick nod of her head and walked out of the room.

Meanwhile back at the hospital, Grissom sat with Sara in her room. Besides a few coughs and sneezes, she had been quiet ever since he had come back into the room after walking his mother down to Brass's car. "What are you thinking about?" he asked as he sat down on the bed next to her.

"Do you think we're doing the right thing? I don't think I can do it." Sara struggled to hold her emotions in.

"Do what?" He placed his hand into hers.

"Have the babies. I'm not good with children; I won't know what to do. What if I do something wrong? What if there _is_ a murder gene and I pass it to one or both of them? What if I hurt them like my parents did to me? I'm petrified." Sara looked him in the eyes while her lip trembled.

"You'll be a wonderful mother, Sara. You've got such a wonderful and caring heart." Grissom caressed her check with the back of his fingers. "I'm scared too. I have things I don't want to pass on to them and I'm not young. I would never have thought I would have a wife, let alone children. I think all we can do is try our best and give the babies love."

Sara wiped a lone tear away. She was happy Grissom was taking it so well. She was expecting him to be a lot angrier. "You're taking this better than I thought you would."

"Sara…" Grissom took a few minutes to pull his thoughts together. "Look, I thought I lost you. When Brass told me about what happened…all I could think about was never seeing your smile again. I didn't want to think about that or knowing I could never hold you in my arms again. I never want to go through that feeling again. And the babies…" He smiled and looked deep into her eyes. "I look at it like this, if you survived everything and the babies survived…there's a reason for it. Maybe they are the scientists who will discover a cure for cancer."

"Picking their careers out already, huh?" she laughed.

"No, but it's a nice thought." Grissom kissed her lips. He was happy to have her well and though he was having conflicting thoughts about bring two new lives into the world; he knew deep down everything happened for a reason.

Sara pulled away coughing.

Grissom looked at her with a concerned look. "Come on." He pulled Sara close to him once again and rubbed her back. Once her cough had stopped, Grissom grabbed the pitcher of water and cup off the night stand next to her bed, and poured her a drink. "Here drink this."

Sara took the cup and a couple of sips. "Thanks."

"Sorry that took so long." Doctor Harris stated as he walked into the room. "We've had emergencies all night long."

"Understandable." Grissom nodded at the doctor.

"How're you feeling, Sara?" asked the doctor while taking her chart off the end of the bed.

"Okay, I keep coughing." Sara rubbed her head a bit. "And I feel a headache coming."

"Let me listen to your lungs." He took his stethoscope from around his neck and began to listen to her breathing. "Does it hurt when you cough or breathe?"

"A little," answered Sara as she took another drink from the cup she still had in her hand.

After several minutes the doctor talked to Sara about her injuries and how he would like her to stay until her blood gases were at the level he felt safe letting her leave. Before he left, he placed Sara on oxygen and shook both Sara and Grissom's hands.

"You should go home." Sara told Grissom as she yawned.

"I'm not leaving you." Grissom took a seat back down next to Sara on the bed. "I don't ever want to be away from you again."

"You can't leave your mom alone." Sara looked down at her folded hands. "She already hates me. I don't want this added to her list of reasons."

Grissom rubbed Sara's leg before looking her in the eyes. "She doesn't hate you, honey. She's…she's afraid you will hurt me and leave me with a broken heart." He took a deep breath, "She's getting used to it. I think she's happy about the babies. She swears they're both boys."

A smile tugged at the corners of Sara's mouth. "I want you to go home for a bit. I'm just going to sleep, so you don't have to be here."

"How about I stay until you fall asleep?"

"Okay." Sara gave Grissom a smile and adjusted the bed so she could lay down more. She slowly drifted off to sleep while she felt Grissom softly stroking her hair.

A few hours after Sara had fallen asleep and Grissom left to run home, Catherine stopped in to see Sara. Stopping at the doorway to her friend's room, she leaned against the door frame and watched the younger woman sleep peacefully. The only thing which gave her concern at the moment was the mask that fed oxygen to Sara. She wondered what had happened to make them put Sara on oxygen. Taking a deep breath, she pushed away from the door and walked over to sit next to her co-worker's bed. She took Sara's hand while looking around at all the flowers, balloons, and cards.

"Hello." A nurse walked in smiling at Catherine.

"Hi." Catherine watched as the nurse wrote a few things down Sara's chart. "Is she okay? When I left in the morning she was fine, and now she's on oxygen."

"She's doing okay, her blood gases weren't quite where the doctor would like. And he asked that she have a full mask on whilst she sleeps." The nurse noticed the concern look in Catherine's eyes. "The nasal cannula was irritating her a bit earlier. This why she's getting the oxygen she needs and she's not being bothered."

"Call if you need anything." The nurse turned to walk away. She was startled by a whimper coming from the bed behind her.

"Shh." Catherine had jumped up when Sara started to seem agitated. "Sara, settle down; you're safe." She kept stroking Sara's hair while she spoke softly.

The nurse made it back to Sara's bed side just as she sat up coughing and trying to remove the face mask. "Sara, come on dear, take slow deep breaths," instructed the nursed as she sat Sara's bed up while holding the mask in place.

Sara felt as if she couldn't breathe. She could feel the water in her throat and it was making her feel sick. She could feel it all rise up and was grateful because the nurse seemed to know and had the plastic tube ready as she removed the face mask just in time. She hated to be sick, it made her feel helpless and weak, and to be sick in front of others just increased the feelings.

Sara rested her head against her pillow after she was finished being sick. "Sorry about that?"

"No apologies needed." The nurse smiled at Sara and placed the face mask back on her. "I'll be right back; you keep this on until I get back."

Catherine waited until the nurse was clear from the room before she took a seat back next to Sara. "I'm having nightmares too. Though I bet there nothing compared to yours." She still felt horrible for what had happened. She couldn't move past it, and remembering Sara asking about the baby only added to it. "I'm sorry, Sara."

"Stop saying you're sorry." Sara let her eyes close for a moment. She just wanted to forget about that night and move on. "We're both safe and that's all that matters."

The nurse came back in before Catherine could reply and took Sara off of the full mask and put her back on the nasal cannula. After changing the oxygen treatment, the nurse took some blood and left again.

Catherine didn't know how to bring up the pregnancy issue. So she just looked around at all the flowers, balloons, stuffed animals, and cards. The room was nearly full of them. "Someone is popular."

"Yeah, there's one from the mayor, the sheriff and undersheriff in there somewhere." Sara smiled softly. "I think even Ecklie sent something."

"So where's your husband run off to?" Catherine laughed at the confused look Sara was giving her. "Grissom told Brass to tell us."

"What else did he say?" Sara wondered if any of them knew about the pregnancy. She didn't realize it was her who let that cat out of the bag. She had forgotten Catherine was in the room when she asked about it earlier that day.

"Nothing. But you said something, or at least I think you did." Catherine couldn't help herself she felt the need to know. "You asked the nurse earlier if your baby was alright. Is everything okay? Did you…did you lose it?"

"I…I shouldn't really say anything until Gris…Gil agrees it's time to tell you guys, but since you asked…I don't want the others to know yet, okay?" Sara knew she had to tell Catherine then, she couldn't see her co-worker suffer over it.

"Promise."

"There isn't _a_ baby, there are two." Sara smiled as Catherine jumped from her seat and hugged her. She never thought Catherine would do that, but she did.

"That's so wonderful for you, I'm happy for you and Gil." Catherine pulled away from Sara. "Where is he, did you say?"

"Oh, I told him to go home for a bit and see his mom. He should be back soon." Sara looked at the clock and wondered what was going on back at the house. "Are you off tonight?"

"Yeah, Ecklie and Grissom think its best I have a week or two off and talk to my PEAP counselor about everything that happened." Catherine sat back down in the seat. "I think Ecklie is making the whole team talk to someone. He said something about not wanting this to look bad to the public. He's afraid it could be used against us in the scenes we do in the next few weeks. So if a professional says we been talking about it, then there shouldn't be any weight given to the defense." Catherine rolled her eyes. She hated when Ecklie got that way, but knew he wouldn't request it if he didn't think it was necessary.

For the next hour the two women sat and talked like they never really had. Catherine told Sara stories from when she was pregnant with Lindsey and told Sara she could talk to her whenever she needed. She also talked to the younger women about the fears of delivery and taking care of a baby in the first few months.


End file.
